INTRODUCTION
1
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Essential Handling Precautions
IMPORTANT. Read this page before unpacking your motherboard!
•••••
Power Supply
Be careful! Always ensure that the computer is disconnected from the power supply when
working on the motherboard and its components.
•
Static Electricity
Static electricity may cause damage to the delicate integrated circuit chips on your motherboard.
Before handling the motherboard outside of its protective packaging, ensure that there is no
static electric charge in your body. A static discharge sufficiently strong enough to damage
computer components is not perceptible by a human. To avoid this risk, please observe these
simple precautions while handling the motherboard and other computer components:
1. If possible, wear an anti-static wrist strap. This fits around your wrist and is connected to
a natural earth ground.
2. Touch a grounded or anti-static surface, or a metal fixture such as a pipe or the chassis of
your system, before touching the motherboard.
3. When you have removed the motherboard from its anti-static packaging, try to hold it only
by the edges, without touching any components.
4. Avoid contacting the components on add-on cards, motherboards, and modules with the
gold-colored connectors which plug into the expansion slots.
5. It is safest to handle system components only by their mounting brackets.
6. Keep components which are not connected to the system in the anti-static packaging
whenever possible.
These precautions help to reduce the risk of static build-up and ensure any static discharge is
harmless to your equipment.
•••••
Battery Replacement
The battery which holds the system settings memory (CMOS RAM) on your motherboard
should not require replacement for at least five years, and probably much longer. In picture
2.2, it is located near the center of the motherboard. Incorrect computer time and/or loss of
time may indicate a weak motherboard battery.
